Science and molecules go “hand in hand”.

Science is my passion. And by hand in hand I’m talking about the right and left.  My first full length novel, Paradox: The Alien Genome, was first an ember from Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, a morsel from one of his The Incredible Universe science episodes. He discussed in some detail the nature of chiral molecules, their ‘handedness’, and how on Earth amino acids natural link up and tweak one direction, while the molecules that link up as sugars link in the opposite direction. He said he’d like to read a book about astronauts on a planet where the spirals were reversed.

So I wrote it.  (By the way, Dr. Tyson, I’d love to send you an autographed copy!) And it was a journey of discovery as I researched DNA and chiral bonds. Thalidomide is a chiral molecule. Unbeknownst to its creators, if they could force the molecule in the other direction, it would not have caused birth defects in fetuses back in the late 50s. I found long and detailed information about this and I nearly took a vacation from my novel to investigate the science further.

Synthesized Proteins

Most molecules are chiral. We can make these things in the laboratory and change them, creating totally new things but with the same atomic structure. A couple months back, I received a link to an article about two MIT chemists, Zachary P. Gates and Brad Pentelute, who could synthesize millions of novel, non-natural proteins to be used as drugs against Ebola and other viruses. They call it Xenoprotein etching. Critically, these man-made structures don’t have to be kept refrigerated. This enhances not only their shelf life, but also their potential use. They can be delivered “in the field” where disease lurks. People wouldn’t have to travel to clinics or doctors. In developing populations, transportation is not always available. When time is of the essence, days could mean lives.

MIT Chemists Synthesize Proteins. 

Why Science Matters

I had to reflect on their ingenuity and how their work ‘mirrors’ (sorry, I couldn’t resist) to some degree my imaginary DNA splicing Malaria vaccine that replicated itself into the haploid cells of the children of vaccinated humans. Through some complex biochemical, yet founded in reality, sci-fi technobabble, this leads to sterility. Humans were unable to create a molecule that was reversed (and which divided, not like sugar which is static). They embarked on a hunting trip in space that lasted two years. They hoped to finding living creatures with this reversed chirality in their DNA. If you’ve read the novel, you know the rest. If not, I won’t give spoilers.

Nevertheless, this article proves once again that no matter how far-fetched of a thing a science fiction writer can dream up, it might very well be possible. We may not be able to transverse space faster than light, but perhaps in the future. I’m sure the Greeks and Romans 3000 years ago never thought of flying commercially, or to another planet. Technology hadn’t come far enough. It’s barely been 100 years since we abandoned the horse and buggy for fossil fueled vehicles. And don’t forget the saying of the Boomer Generation: If we can go to the moon, we can (fill in the blank with any impossible task, like, cure cancer, go solar, stop war).

That’s what makes writing science fiction so much fun. I like to think we are more enlightened and educated enough to leap beyond our current civilization, to question all that we are, and what we could be. I refer to the forward thinking sci-fi, not the, apocalyptic, dystopian, doom and gloom, an earth ruined by war sci fi. And a wise person once said – “Be careful what you ask for. You might get it.” I certainly hope so!

Based on Reality

If you’re a Star Trek fan,enjoy the tales of Michael Crichton (Jurrasic Park, ER, Congo), the works of Isaac Asimov, you may discover just what you’re looking for here.  Do you like hard sci fi, medical missions, runaway bacteria, asteroids, and aliens?  You will enjoy my two series, The Pioneer Missions, and the as yet untitled full length novels about an intrepid star ship captain who finds his soul mate in an alien . Find all my work here.